Broadband data connections to the home, such as digital subscriber lines (DSL) and cable modems, are increasingly ubiquitous. Broadband connections provide high speed Internet connectivity to the home, and have led to what is sometimes referred to as “home networking.” Generally, home networking refers to technologies that allow for the interconnection of computing and electronics devices in the home. The demand for such interconnectivity is due, at least in part, to the desire to interconnect multiple computers and share a single broadband connection, as well as other network resources such as printers, scanners, etc. Several different technologies have been proposed for implementing home networks. These include, for example, conventional Ethernet networks, wireless networks, and power line networks.
One home networking technology that has gained recognition is that designed by the Home Phoneline Network Alliance (HPNA). Generally, the HPNA specification employs existing twisted pair telephone wires or Coax wires in the home to connect computing devices at data rates approaching 128 Mbits per second. Future HPNA specifications include data rates that reach and eventually exceed 320 Mbps. An HPNA network uses frequency division multiplexing to transmit home network data traffic on the same twisted wire pairs that simultaneously are used to transmit non-HPNA signals such as telephone and DSL signals. HPNA transmits in the 4 MHz to 28 MHz frequency range, as compared to telephone traffic that typically transmits in the 15 HZ to 4 KHz range, and ADSL/VDSL that typically transmits in the 25 KHz to 8.5 MHz range.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.